The present invention relates to a step-second timepiece comprising a quartz crystal oscillator and a frequency divider containing a reset circuit, and particularly to a circuit for compensating for lags associated with the reset-releasing operation of the reset switch.
The conventional timepiece circuits having a reset circuit generate the driving pulses for operating a step motor just or about one second after the reset-releasing operation.
For a step-second timepiece, the second hand cannot follow instantly but starts several tens of msecs after a driving pulse in output. In addition, when the timepiece is set at standard time by television, radio, telephone or the like, the reset operation is generally released by hand through a reset switch mounted on the timepiece after confirmation of the standard time by means of the operator's ears or eyes. Then because of the hand resetting operation, as a matter of course, a time lag, ordinarily of approximately 100 to 250 msecs, occurs. Accordingly if the reset switch is released after confirmation of setting the standard time, the timepiece will be set inevitably at a slow time because the first driving pulse will occur after the elapse of about one second. This makes it difficult to set exactly the timepiece.